FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — State election crimes investigators were sent to Broward County’s elections headquarters in Fort Lauderdale this week to investigate marijuana-referendum petitions processed by the Broward Supervisor of Elections Office.

According to the Broward County Supervisor of Elections office, investigators sent by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration were at elections headquarters Monday and Tuesday, and were expected there again Wednesday.

The elections office released a statement to Local 10 News, saying, “There is no indication that the Broward County Supervisor of Elections Office, nor Broward County Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott, is under investigation.”

Scott said the investigation targets “circulators who were terminated for petition fraud by Smart & Safe Florida.”

Statewide prosecutors have asked the Florida Department o Law Enforcement to open 46 fraud investigations pertaining to petition organizers.

The proposed marijuana referendum would amend the state’s Constitution to legalize the use of recreational marijuana by those 21 and older – something DeSantis is opposed to.

Smart & Safe Florida released the following statement to Local 10 News Wednesday.

“It is clear that the Secretary is using every means necessary to stifle the voices of over a million Florida voters who have lawfully and legally signed petitions.

“From the month’s-long delay in sending the ballot language to the court to the after-the-fact nullifying of valid petitions, it seems there is nothing that will stop the administration from preventing these voters from having their say.

“Consistent with Florida law, each and every time we found any sort of discrepancy from state-certified petition gatherers, we reported our suspicions to the Secretary of State.

“Even further, we segregate any suspicious petitions before submitting them to county supervisors of elections.

“In short, it appears the Attorney General is taking issue with the fact that we explicitly follow the law.

“We will, of course, continue to work with the state to ensure anyone who appears to be committing fraud is immediately terminated and promptly reported to the state and we hope the Attorney General applies the same vigor to the $10 million HOPE Florida scandal also being investigated by the State Attorney.”

— Smart & Safe Florida spokesperson

Related: Local 10 News Hope Florida coverage

Glen Burhans is the general counsel for Smart & Safe Florida and he spoke to Local 10 News on Sunday.

“When we discover fraud, we report it to the state,” he said. “We tell circulators in their training if you commit fraud you will be fired, you will be reported to the state and if appropriate, you will be prosecuted, period end of story. And the state knows that because we have given them our training materials. Anyone who has committed fraud should be prosecuted.”

All of this is happening amid of flurry of lawsuits.

“This is actually the second time in the past few months we have had to sue the secretary of state to compel him to do his job, his administrative tasks as statute,” said Burhans. “This most recent case filed last week compelling the secretary to report the signature verifications to the website on a weekly basis per statute.”

The committee is up against a deadline of Feb. 1 to get the required number of signatures. They are hoping voters in Florida can once again have the opportunity to weigh-in.

Read Statewide Prosecutor Bradley McVay’s letter to Scott below:

Office of the AG letter to Broward Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott

DeSantis administration launches probe into marijuana referendum petitions in Broward County

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